Task Force for Handling Violence in Schools and Pesantren Targeted for Completion This Month

The plan to establish an integrated task force (Satgas) for handling cases of violence in schools and Islamic boarding schools (ponpes) in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) is targeted for completion this month. The formation of the task force surfaced following an incident in which three students were allegedly set on fire by a peer in Central Lombok. The task force was initiated by the Regional Office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kanwil Kemenag) of NTB together with the NTB Provincial Government, the NTB Regional Police, the NTB High Prosecutor’s Office, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the NTB Islamic Boarding School Communication and Cooperation Forum (FKSPP). All parties held a meeting at the NTB Ministry of Religious Affairs Office on Wednesday (10/6/2026) to finalise the concept for forming the task force. Head of the NTB Ministry of Religious Affairs Regional Office, Zamroni Aziz, stated that all elements are currently formulating a small team to accelerate the establishment of the cross-sectoral task force. “There were several points we agreed upon earlier. Among them, we will create a small team to establish this joint task force. This team consists of all the existing elements,” Zamroni said at his office. According to Zamroni, the task force will not only focus on post-incident management but also on the prevention of violence in schools and pesantren environments. He asserted that perpetrators of violence must be processed legally without dragging the educational institution into disrepute in general. “So don’t burn down the barn, but kill the rat. This means we will take firm action and legally process the individual perpetrators of violence, not the pesantren,” Zamroni declared. He confirmed the task force’s scope of work will cover pesantren as well as general schools throughout NTB. Reflecting on the alleged burning case of three students in Central Lombok, the task force will provide comprehensive services ranging from health treatment and psychological recovery to legal assistance. “We cannot work alone. Kemenag, we apologise, cannot do this by itself. It needs to join hands with all parties, including the regional government. I always say that pesantren belong to all of us,” he added. Chairman of the FKSPP of NTB Province, TGH Mahally Fikri, supported the formation of the task force. He encouraged the Governor of NTB to promptly issue a decree (SK) so that the task force has strong legality to work on the ground. According to Mahally, one of the causes for the emergence of violence cases is the diminishing tradition of mutual advice-giving among educational institutions in NTB. “This task force exists to advise one another. Later, the team will visit many pesantren in NTB for silaturahmi. The more often we meet and give advice, the more surely we can reduce the rate of violence,” Mahally explained. Mahally also clarified the notion that NTB is in a state of emergency regarding violence in pesantren environments. According to him, compared to the number of Islamic boarding schools in NTB, which is less than one thousand, the percentage of violence cases is still smaller than in several other regions. Despite this, he asserted there is zero tolerance for acts of violence within educational settings. “Even though the case rate is low, we are not happy. Because whatever its name, violence is an act of disobedience that we must eradicate and fight together on Bumi Gora,” he stressed. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Child Protection Agency (LPA) of Mataram City, Joko Jumadi, assessed that handling violence cases in NTB must be done through both short-term and long-term measures. For the long term, the lecturer from the Faculty of Law at the University of Mataram requested that the NTB Provincial Government revise Regional Regulation (Perda) Number 8 concerning the Facilitation of Pesantren Implementation in NTB. “This revision is for the long term; it is a step-by-step process that we must undertake,” Joko said. Meanwhile, in the short term, the establishment of the integrated violence handling task force has been requested to be executed immediately and is targeted for completion within this month. Joko stressed that the task force’s work must be oriented towards the protection of victims. “With this task force, violence handling work is no longer isolated but integrated. We ensure the handling is primarily victim-based. It must be formed this month, and later we will ask the Governor to issue the decree,” Joko concluded.